sharing the becoming and growth of our first child; an experiential walkthrough of the sometimes daunting, but oftentimes delightful and gratifying journey of childbirth and parenthood; a personal discovery of the miracle of life and the tenderness of being;

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Here, we bought our first 2 feeding bottle for Bryan (thats the likely name of our son). B-free, meaning that this plastic bottle is free of Bisphenol A, which is a chemical known to disrupt hormones. The other known safe alternative are glass bottles, which tend to be heavier and more delicate i suppose.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Heres a really useful item to have during pregnancy, whenever the sore throats get the better of you. Typically, strepsils and of-the-rack lozenges are not recommended for pregnant women, but we found this, ISLA MINT from our gynae's office, it should be available elsewhere too. After taking it, it coated the throat like a balm. Also suitable for children, as stated on the box.

One of the first presents for our future son. On the left are Converse sneakers from the Fee sisters, its another one of the amazingly small miniature products, even comes with traction below, as though he's going to get up and walk so fast!! ahahaaha. Aren't they really really sweet. On the right is a gift from Aunty Jeanne, baby's first personal soft toy.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I don't know if we were seeing things, but when I rotated the ultrasound scan 90 degrees the other night, i looked over to Ade and said " Do you see what i see? Our son looks like he is standing upright, and he seems to be in really deep thought, maybe he was pissed at the ultrasound waves. And look at the shape of the head, together with that body posture, looks like something really familiar, what's it?" to which we both acknowledged. "Charlie Brown" and broke into uproarious laughter.

Man, even before our kiddo is out in this world and can react against us, we are already making fun of him. Tsk tsk tsk.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

And here it is, presenting to you, the cutest little wear. Available at Marks and Spencers.

Pack of 5.

And for the record, thats 5 bodysuits on the first day of gender discovery. And assuming mummy falls in love with more bodysuits consistently, plus the fact that we have 164 days left, we'll have 820 bodysuits by delivery. More than enough for all the infantcares we have in Singapore, considering there aren't that many.

Our hearts were filled with excitement this morning, just before the baby will be getting a deeper identity. For the past 4 months, it had always been "bean", or "our baby", today we know whether its a he or she. Its amazing, it feels completely different to know your baby's gender. There is an extra bond, a more graspable image of the person inside. Heres the ultrasound for the answer!

And thats one of the few occasions where you can post pictures of genitalia on blogs without getting the censorship review committee bursting in through your window.

Its a boy! One of the things Ade said was "is that the K-- K-- J----!!!" Following that were further speculations and also positive comments made on the proportion of the above mentioned to the rest of the body, resulting in a really hilarious ultrasound session. Though we will not be shopping for pretty little frocks as Ade had envisioned, our joy of seeing a healthy baby boy did not stop her from buying the first set of body suits for him. Its a set of 5 from Marks and Spencers. When we got to the car, we examined the first pair. The size of that body suit was hilarious. It's so small. so so so so so small. WAahahahahah.

The other piece of good news is that the baby measures 105mm, which was within a healthy range for 16wks and 4 days. That number cracked me up because this whole week, i was doing some detail drawings where the dimension of some of the walls had to be 105mm, which was the length of half a brick. It was a number which was etched in my mind. Thats how big our baby is now, the width of an internal wall.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

We were really pleasantly surprised this morning when we went for a tour of NTUC infantcare's facilities. This one is at jurong west St 65. At first impression, both of us thought that everything was scrupulously clean, and also, the place felt really cosy, so much that Ade wanted to take a nap on one of the mattresses, and for her to say that, it must be really clean, meaning dust-free, smell-free and clutter-free.

Making this trip gave us the assurance that infantcare was the best decision, measured against the other options of hiring a full time maid or putting our baby with a nanny. Below are the reasons why we feel it is our best choice, considering that we are both working during office hours.

1) The infant care givers were all highly qualified with diplomas in infantcare. We stayed around long enough to verify that, and witnessed firsthand their experience and decision making skills in action. An example was that when one of the babies was crying really loud, the in-house protocol was not to give him immediate attention, after the reason for crying was established as his craving for milk. So he was left to cry while the milk was warmed. The crying lasted only a while as a result. This was really good, because it does not breed crying as a tool for getting what he wants, and we felt that it was a good decision on their part. Instinctively, many parents would succumb to the attention-demanding cry of the baby.

2) Caregivers really looked like they were baby-lovers, from their handling and the attitude they portray, something which is really difficult to expect from a maid, unless you really get lucky.

3) The babies had their own dedicated cots, and the cot room was physically separated from the main area. This ensures hygiene, and familiarity.

4) They had mentioned that they will personally alert all parents if one of the infants fell sick and they check the temperature 3 times a day. Besides this, they do have an isolation cot room where the sick infant will be taken care of.

5) In the infant's first year of life, the social environment naturally encourages the infant to become more sociable, being constantly exposed to the company of fellow infants, as well as 5 caregivers. As a result, they get comfortable with people, a sure benefit against being shut out with only a maid to face all day.

6) There is a government subsidy of $400, resulting in a monthly fee of less than $900.

To sum up, we are now convinced that care of the baby is assured under these professionals, who are equipped with knowledge and experience of perhaps both of us combined.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Its really unbelievable, i just realized that cats sense the presence of another life even if it is not seemingly apparent to them. Phoebe has been demanding a lot of attention from Ade lately, especially during this period of pregnancy. She would make whiny noises and present herself in multiple contortions never witnessed before by us. (at this point i think that making a flipbook of all these positions would be super hilarious). I wouldn't conclude that she understands the notion of pregnancy, nor does she instinctively equate the appearance of a tummy to the making of a new life, but she somehow knows that there'll be a new member of the family to fight for attention with. And heres bringing a new meaning to the words - Feline Jealousy. Mummy is now having one of her own kind. Worse still, wait till she finds out shes got to be second in line during feeding time in the morning. Awwwwwww...

After doing some research and testing, we are aiming for the above stroller, at S$999.00. Saw this at Tanglin Mall. Donations are highly welcome. Please donate by paypal on the bottom left column of the screen. Thank you.